Wire stretcher



May 4, 1954 G. H. BONNEY WIRE STRETCHER Filed July 14, 1952 3 George H. Bonney INVENTOR.

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Patented May 4, 1954 UNITED PATENT" OFFICE.

WIRE STRETGHER George H. Bouncy, St. Louis, Mo.

Application July 14, 1952, Serial No. 298,771

1 Claim. (Cl. 74-169) Th present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in implements which have become to be known, generally speaking, as wire stretchers, and the object of the invention to structurally, functionally and in other ways improve upon similarly constructed and performing wire stretchers.

Another object of the invention, generally construed, islto improve upon and reduce the number of parts entering into the combination, thereby not only increasing the efllciency of the structure a whole, but also rendering the same less costly to manufacture and to otherwise simplify factors of. assembling and sale.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple, economical and practical structural device in which manufacturers and users will find their respective requirements and needs fully and effectively met.

Briefly summarized, a preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized by a sheath having means at one end for the attachment thereto of a length of wire which is to be stretched, an extensible and retractible bar telescopically slidable in said sheath and having means at one end for the attachment thereto of a length of Wire complemental to said first-named length of wire, lever means carried by said sheath, and pawl and ratchet means afiording an operatconnection between said lever and bar.

More specifically, novelty is predicated upon the provision of a sheath which is channel-shaped in cross-section, the channel being open at opposite ends, said bar being in the form of a toothed rack bar and being telescopically slidable in the channel with one end projectible beyond a corresponding end of the channel, there bein a lever, lever havin a fork and said fork being piv tally mounted on th sheath and carrying operating progressively actuatable pawls, said e. i i sing held in place by gravity to obviate the necessity of the use of retaining springs and the like and also to make it possible to quickly release the pawls from the rack teeth by simply turning the channel upside-down.

Other objects, features and advantages will rue readily apparent from the following des-c iption and the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings wherelike numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a wire stretcher constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the manner 5, a complemental extensible and retractible rack bar 8 and lever means 10;

Taking up first the unit or sheath 6, this as befor stated is channel-shaped in cross section and the channelis open at opposite ends. The bottom member or wall is denoted by the numeral 12 and the longitudinal side walls by the numerals l ll. The channel is denoted by the numeral It and at one end suitably affixed hooks I8-l8 are provided, these to accommodate a bridle 20 on one length of wire 22 which is to be stretched. The sheath is also characterized by a crossmember or brace 25 fixed at one end and a similar brace 28 fixed at the opposite or right-hand end. Then, adjacent to the brace 26 a third brace 33 is provided and this spans the open top of the channel, as do the other braces, and it is provided with arcuate slots 32.

Taking up now the rack bar unit or means 8, this comprises an elongated rigid bar 34 which is rectangular in cross-section and is of a crosssection to fit and slide freely in the channel I6. The top side of this bar is provided with two spaced parallel rows of rack teeth 35 and 38. There is a hook secured to the right-hand end of the rack bar to accommodate a loop 42 on the wire 4-! which is to be stretched.

The lever means Ill is characterized by a handle 35 having a substantially U-shaped yoke or fork is at one end, the arms and 52 of the same straddling the bottom of the channel and the cross brace 33, said arms being pivotally mounted between their ends on these parts as at 54 and 56. There are two gravity held pawls provided and these are denoted by the numerals 58 and 6D in Figure 1. Each pawl has a tooth 62 as shown in Figure 3 which is engageable with the teeth of the rack with which it is supposed to cooperate. Each pawl is also pivotally anchored or mounted in the manner here shown; That is to say, a small U-shaped bracket or fixture 64 is provided and this has a headed shank portion 66 which is swivelly mounted in the arm 50 of the yoke 48. The U-shaped portion is operable in the coacting arcuate slot 32 so as to accommodate the freedom of movement or play required when the handle of the lever is rocked either right or left in relation to the units 6 and 8. It will be evident that the two pawls are alternatively operable and that when the lever is caused to function in an 0bvious rocking manner the pawls are alternatively engageable with the teeth in their respective racks so that one pawl pushes the rack bar while the other pawl holds it in the position to which it has been pushed and this functionin is repeated over and over in a Well known ratcheting and retaining manner.

As before stated, the pawls are held in operative relationship by the forces of gravity and the functioning of the parts is, therefore, such that the rack bar is fed in a step-by-step manner into the channel from its extended to a retracted position whereupon the respective wires 22 and at are stretched and brought closer together for nailing or whatever result is to be accomplished. It is also clear that by turning the channel upside-down the pawls will automatically drop and release themselves from the rack teeth Whereupon the rack bar may then be released and the hooks l8 and 40 disengaged from the stretched wires.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having described the claimed as new is:

In a wire stretcher, a rigid sheath channelshaped in cross-section and open at its ends and substantially open at its top, a toothed rack bar slidably mounted in the channel portion of said sheath, a cross-brace spanning the open top and joined with the channel walls of said sheath, said brace having a pair of complemental substantially spaced parallel arcuate slots, a lever having a fork at one end, one of the arms of said fork straddling and being pivotally connected to the bottom of the sheath and the other arm straddling and being pivotally connected to said brace, a pair of intermittently operable pawls normally located in said channel portion and having individual teeth engageable with the complemental teeth on said rack bar, the opposite ends of said pawls being interposed in the space between said cross-brace and rack bar, anchoring members swivelly attached to said other arm, operable in their respective slots and extending into the aforementioned space and pivotally connected with the last named ends of said pawls.

invention, what is References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 409,966 Henshaw et a1 Aug. 27, 1889 855,632 Hartin June 4, 1904 869,157 Beaulieu Oct. 22, 1907 905,052 Boyes Nov. 24, 1908 1,904,465 Prezeau Sept. 26, 1911 1,151,323 Young -1 Aug. 24, 1915 2,444,866 Weed July 6, 1948 

